An insight into UKIP

As Bournemouth wept with rain and seasonal despair, the UKIP conference basked under the glowing warmth of optimism. The members emerged into the streets afterwards, happy and content, and eager to announce that the conference was ‘the best yet’ – a message echoed by the political foot-soldiers and leaders alike.

The times are truly changing for this small party: It has branched out spectacularly and is very keen to announce that its image as a one-policy party is now dead and buried under the fresh and alternative policies that mark UKIP so far apart from the practically identical three major parties.

Their leader, Nigel Farage, has used new policies to dig himself and his party in well for the 2009 European elections. What is truly alluring, however, is UKIP’s noticeable distance from the draconian wishes of the other parties – from energy to detention without trial.

UKIP has emerged as the only major libertarian party in the current lie of the land. Many of their policies reflect this mantra, such as the decision made at the conference not to take a dogmatic stance for or against the case for human-caused global warming – the decision is instead to be left to the individual.

So if the mood of the audience can reflect the mood of the people, UKIP looks to be on its way up. They recently celebrated the defection of Dr Bob Spink – MP for Castle Point in Essex – from the Conservative party; UKIP’s first MP. This achievement will add to the energy leading up to the European elections next year. After the very noticeable public dissatisfaction with the government’s referendum charade, these are elections that UKIP should, and most probably will, be able to cash in on spectacularly. The EU has become perceived as being more and more dangerous over the last few years – from the threat of a continental police force to the justice system that is forecast to destroy the concept of the sovereign state.

Although Britain is not a nationalistic country on an American scale, there remains a patriotic backbone to the British people. Fishermen rue the loss of their livelihoods, stolen by EU policies; the European weights and measures are implemented, the street traders arrested for rebelliously refusing to conform; 75% of our laws now come from Brussels; And membership of the EU costs Britain 139 million pounds each day – UKIP alone stands strong against these tides of insanity.

The conference speakers all very excitedly heralded the ‘young aspect’ of UKIP. In fact, so did the aging conference audience. The Chairman, leader, and the Young Independence branch were all hoisted aloft as a shining trophy of youth. This is probably a very welcome move for UKIP – they have unwillingly obtained an image of a disgruntled pensioners’ party at times.

As you look around at the younger UKIP members, many of whom have recently left school or university, you can’t help but suspect they feel a little like Hansel and Gretel at times – lured in, fattened up, and watched hungrily by their eager captors.

But UKIP may have actually struck gold. The youth aspect is immensely important as the vote-eligible youth are often filled with a political zeal and solitarily represent a potentially huge share of the voters.

There are, however, a few reservations.

One statement released by UKIP announced, that if it were in power, immigration would be frozen for five years to deal with the backlog. This is not mentioned at all in the 2005 manifesto, and as yet, a paper has not been published on immigration for the 2008 manifesto. Furthermore, there was no mention at the conference of how the problem of immigration was to be tackled.

A five-year freeze seems like unmanageable and impractical solution, and raises some serious questions: What of the Iraqi translators who risked their own lives and those of their families in order to help their country and the coalition? What of the brave Ghurkhas? Does this include asylum? Mehdi Kazemi was an Iranian homosexual student whose partner had been murdered back in Iran by the state. What of him?

One does fear that, as the economy worsens, a real resentment against immigrants will manifest itself and could actually benefit UKIP.

All in all, this is a very exciting time for UKIP. They stand for the most part in a truly unique position: The increasing anti-European sentiment, the worsening economy, the appointment of their first Commons’ MP, the fast-growing size of Young Independence (the youth movement), and their position as the only party promising libertarian, free market politics. In the following year the European elections will be crucial to UKIP’s future – the impressive change they have undergone in the last decade gives them a political appeal to a diverse range of voters. They are a small party that has shrugged free the crippling divisions noticeable in the larger, more commercial parties – they represent the collective views of a large percentage of voters; it all depends upon how astutely they can capitalise on the current political climate.

25 comments

The freeze is just for economic migrants, not for refugees. Thus the case of Mehdi Kazemi and others like it would be judged on it own merits. However that is not to say that the UK has the duty to allow all homosexuals from those countries such as Iran and Zimbabwe free entry. Once in it may be a different matter.

When it comes to the Gurkhas and the Iraqi translator we are on record supporting their right of both residence, and in the case of the Gurkhas full pension rights. We have a debt of honour to those who have served our country.

On almost all other matters UKIP is currently the closest thing to a Libertarian party with an elected mandate that exists in Britain. As a party we don’t really do morals, and take no corporate view on private live. We oppose bans be they about smoking, or about hunting. We oppose the database state, the horrid proliferation of speed cameras, fingerprinting children in schools and so on. We are in favour of independence – of the country from the EU of course, but also of the individual from the increasingly pettifogging and dictatorial rules and regulations that seek to direct our private lives.

In case the political class haven’t noticed, they are our servant, not the other way round.

UKIP is dying on its feet – losing members hand over fist and in a perpetual state of internal turmoil. Only last week police had to be called to it’s national executive committeee (NEC) meeting – resulting in three of its leaders being “purged” before they could ask some interesting questions relating to Party finances.

If that wasn’t bad enough it has barely managed double figures in any of the few local authority by-elections it bothers to contest these days and is beaten almost everywhere by other minor parties such as thew Greens, BNP etc. Indeed – in May – it was even beaten by the unspeakable National Front in all but one of the seven giant London constituencies contested.

It is also strange that you fail to mention that one of UKIP’s former MEPS has just served a jail sentence for fraud, another is awaiting trial on fraud charges and others are – if the media are to be believed – being investigated in connection to monies received from the taxpayer. I could also point to UKIP being taken to court by its own members for the return of monies, non-disclosure of the receipt of vast amounts of public monies by its MEPs, an alleged illegal lottery, the mystery of the “unaccounted for” SE Call Centre finances and the recent jailing of a UKIP candidate on child rape charges! And lets not even start on a certain person’s antics relating to bars and lap dancers!

With an average membership age of around 70 and next to no support amongst the young it can only be a matter of time before this excuse for a party passes away quietly! The sooner the better in my opinion.

Steve – instead of trading infantile insults – “why don’t you grow up” – why don’t you comment upon what I have written?

Do you deny the criminality mentioned – I can’t see how you can considering it is public knowlege and reported in the national media?

Are the allegations of police investigations as recorded in both the national and regional media false? It would be a little unwise for you to deny this I think.

Why have UKIP’s MEPs not placed in the public domain (or anywhere else) details of their allowances and expenses claiming from the taxpayer. The monies involved, as perhaps you are aware, run into the £ millions between them. Where has this money gone? Additionally, is this behaviour not hypercritical considering that this was exactly the sort of abuse they were elected to campaign against?

Isn’t UKIP currently being sued for the return of EU candidates deposits – by would be UKIP EU candidates?

Isn’t a leading Manchester UKIP official and candidate currently serving a long jail sentence for the rape of little boys? Do you deny that?

Isn’t UKIP’s electoral performance abysmal – consistently being beaten by the Greens and BNP – as you candidate will again tonight in Boston by both the Greens and BNP (and independent)?

What happened to the £70,000 of members donations made to the SE Call Centre (now defunct) “accounted for” as “other costs”? What were these “other costs” exactly? Isn’t that why some of your leading members were “purges” only last week planning to ask this very question?

Isn’t it a fact that the odious National Front hammered UKIP in 6 out of 7 of the GLA seats both parties contested as recently as May?

What have UKIP’s motley collection of MEPs actually done for the last four years – apart from claiming taxpayers’ money that is and allegedly “going native” in Brussels?

Finally, please don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against anyone who opposes the EU -I’m not too keen on it mayself – but how any decent person can support such an obviously corrupt and self-serving outfit as UKIP is beyond me.

I can’t believe that I just read that people think UKIP aren’t a one-policy party.

I mean, technically they aren’t – they support xenophobia in all its forms – but I don’t think the average person in the street knows more about them than that they dislike Europe a lot.

The only reason that they won a seat was because an MP who was expelled from the Tories for being, essentially, too racist “insisted that despite crossing the floor, there was no need for a byelection in his Castle Point, Essex, constituency.”

That’s not a feat. In fact it’s exactly the opposite – they are impressed that someone who is essentially cheating democracy and managed to get EXPELLED from the CONSERVATIVE party is the only person who is representing them nationally.

The country knows that UKIP are just xenophobic and the election of an ultra-right-wing MP for them doesn’t defy that just as the selection of multiple criminals doesn’t improve the average person’s opinion of the BNP.

Get over yourselves and see how pointless your existance is. Yes, people have voted for you. No, you haven’t won an MP election. Yes, people dislike the Europe Union enough to kick up a fuss about it. No, people don’t like you enough to vote you into a sensible position. Yes, people voted for you occasionally. No, people don’t want you to be allowed on the main stage of British or international politics. Quit kidding yourself.

And another thing: the fact that 2/3 of the first posters were UKIP members suggests to me that you spend your time doing nothing more than searching for UKIP on the internet. I mean for goodness sake you left York University in 1992… and judging by those dates you didn’t even manage to finish your bloody degree… and you’re still hanging around and speaking like a total gimpl. GROW UP, for goodness sake!!

By the way, congratulations on Nouse making it to the top of Google News articles list :) Keep that up!

There are few things I hate more in this world than hypocrisy and indifferent naivety. It perhaps would be prudent not to comment on some of the snide remarks made, but I have always said what I think and I will always do so.

I will not address all of the comments because some of them are too foolish. I say this not with malice, but with determined contempt.

For a start, the concept of a ‘one policy party’ only works if the party itself be the origin of the statement. I have been at most of the party conferences this year and those all announced many various policies in the many various areas of government interest. UKIP appeared keen to demonstrate a serious challenge to the other parties, and it did this with a serious array of policies.

Secondly, to group UKIP as a xenophobic party is a misinformed slander. UKIP has supporters among people of all colour, race and religion. It is a Libertarian party and the polar opposite of an authoritarian or social liberal party, which could anything from the Green Party, to the BNP, to the Liberal Democrats. Xenophobia directly contradicts the principles with which UKIP subsists.

Finally, to try and group a party to the crime of a member, or the repulsive character of a member is an insidious method of attack. The frequently used example of Kilroy Silk is the most ridiculous. Originally a Labour MP, he joined UKIP but quickly left when it was realised that UKIP did not reflect Kilroy Silk’s views, whereupon he helped to create Veritas. The action of the individual does not represent the action of the collective – even more so when that individual is estranged from the collective.

There have been donation frauds among every single major party in recent years; there have been arrests among the members and supporters of every single major party in recent years; and there have specious lies about every single major party in the last few years. If one can not understand party politics without actually understanding party politics, then one should not venture to make a conceited series of comments at all.

The great irony of my comments is that I am not a UKIP supporter. But I refuse to see libels and myths propagated so obnoxiously, falsely and naively.

“Secondly, to group UKIP as a xenophobic party is a misinformed slander. UKIP has supporters among people of all colour, race and religion.”

UKIP is xenophobic by nature – it doesn’t want us to collaborate with Europe and the fact that I call the PARTY xenophobic is perfectly accurate. Many members may not be – and I would go so far as to call most members racist – but the majority are still xenophobic. Regardless, the Party itself is definitely by its own definition.

Secondly; colour, race and religion are nothing to do with xenophobia. If you are against colour or race (which are totally different of course) then you would be racist. If you’re anti-Muslim then you’re not necessarily xenophobic. Try getting your definitions straight before attacking me.

UKIP are self-defining as both nationalist and bordering on advocating jingoism by suggesting other countries are inferior. It is to do with disliking countries and by British law that is not illegal. This is the reason that the BNP are now self-defining as nationalist when they may still technically be racist… and the reason that most racists are attracted to the two parties – of course they are both completely different in every way… but the BNP wish to make a British nation that is self-controlling and UKIP want to make an independent United Kingdom that is self-sovereign. Completely different. Yup.

Regardless, they’re not growing in respectability or popularity among the civilised people of Britain. We all know that the EU aren’t very good at what they do but we also know that it’s essential to keep ourselves supportive of and aligned with European countries. The system is flawed but the concept is still sound and we need to keep our foot in the European door to have a chance of fixing the problem.

UKIP and BNP may well be perfectly respectable parties but they were both born out of a dislike for foreigners and a love for British sovereignty… and so will never be accepted as legitimate political parties but rather pressure groups. Their ideals of hating immigrants, retreating from Europe and retracting all foreign aid (an afterthought, really, but still one that defines their ideology) are not ideals that most people really support. They may dislike having a lot of foreigners in the country but in the end they will be sympathetic to foreign values and what’s going on…

Jason, your last comment is absolutely ridiculous and highlights your little knowledge of UKIP and its policies (have you been on its website). It is frankly typical leftist rhetoric to use soundbites such as “xenophobic” and a “hate for immigrants”.

Let me help you. I was a member of UKIP for 18 months and far from being rampantly Xenophobic, UKIP has an extrodinarily high number of foreign members. Perhaps this is because of the area in London in which I live, havin a large non-white/British population, but you are completely misinformed in your judgement over members and policy. It’s so easy for you to coin soundbites such as “racist”, “anti-immigrant” etc which sound good but have absolutely zero backing in fact. People see through it.

Holding the concept of parliamentary sovereignty dear is a respectable line to take and to argue that UKIP does not want to co-operate with Europe, is frankly rubbish. It wants to trade MORE with Europe on an FTA basis (similar to the agreement the EU has with Mexico and Switzerland) and many of NATO’s msmbers, are of course, European. On top of this, UKIP co-operates with ideological allies in other EU countries who support their nations withdrawal from the EU and reject the whittling away of their domestic democratic process.

I am afraid Jason, that once again you are horribly misinformed. The only thoughts you have on these matters seem to come from your own opinions; do you do any reading around these subject areas on which you have ample to say? Calling people who have a pride in their country, who want to see sovereignty restored to their own parliament, who want to see immigration brought under control (etc etc) “xenophobic” is just wrong. As I have said, it’s the typical screeching that comes from the Jason Rose ‘types’ when they don’t happen to agree with something a party stands for.

To quote from Sam: “There have been donation frauds among every single major party in recent years; there have been arrests among the members and supporters of every single major party in recent years; and there have specious lies about every single major party in the last few years.”

Very true Sam – but the incidence of actual corruption, perceived corruption and alleged corruption in relation to UKIP – a small party by any standards – must rank it as the most corrupt party (of any size)in British politics! Quite apart from the serious and as yet unanswered questions relating to the wherabouts of considerable sums of members’ money (including mine) donated to the Ashford Call Centre, is the issue of millions of pounds of allowance and expenses money (taxpayers’ money) paid out to UKIP’s MEPs and for which they refuse to properly account! Even the sleazy Tories have now made their receipts public – but not UKIP for some unspecified reason. If they have nothing to hide then they have nothing to fear!

Furthermore, the expulsion of senior UKIP officials at their latest NEC meeting earlier this month speaks volumes for that party’s concept of natural justice and of its disregard for the rights of individuals. If the Westminster expulsions were a one-off then perhaps this could be excused as a spur of the moment over-reaction – but they happen to be but the latest in a long line of such abuses. Heaven help this country and justice as we understand it, should this bunch of despots ever come to power (which is highly unlikely judging from their joke election results of the last few years)!

I take issue with your article because it fails to make any mention of the corruption and despotism that is abundantly evident within this organisation – indeed the very same corruption and despotism that is ripping it to pieces in internal squabbling. And because you have clearly decided to ignore these issues then your piece falls within the realms of propaganda rather than serious journalism. If you are not a UKIP supporter, as you claim, then I have to question your motives for penning such a distorted piece. As for myself, a former UKIPer who has experienced these issues at both first and second hand, my most sincere wish is to see UKIP’s prize herd of taxeating Euro-hogs lose their places at the Brussels trough and kicked off the Gravy Train – for which I and millions others subsidise – at the earliest possible opportunity!

By no means a UKIP supporter, but Jason’s charges of xenophobia because UKIP ‘doesn’t want to cooperate with europe’ are just plain stupid.

XenoPHOBIA means irrational fear of foreigners. Not a lack of willingness to be involved with the EU.

To say UKIP as a whole are ‘afraid’ of all foreigners is the equivalent of saying the entire labour party want to lock us up for 420 days and make us pay for the privilege. Or that the tories will remove all benefits from the poor and give them to fox hunters. Unresearched, inflammatory hyperbole.

TO me UKIP still seem a single issue party though. Their success in Europe fails to translate into westminster or regional or assembly or council seats. This does suggest they are being used as a protest vote on EU membership.

Any halt on immigration is a bold and perhaps foolish move given how rapidly the economic situation can change. It might resonate in times of hardship, but i doubt many businesses would support a total freeze for a full parliament. One suspects this is a soundbite to again pick up protest votes.

Libertarians need a voice in Britain, but i’m not sure UKIP is the right voice. UKIP are solid on their one issue, perhaps they should just stick to it.

Will, this article was not an analysis of UKIP, but a report on their AGM.

Even if the party was involved in the frauds, which the Commission has found it not to be (the work of some criminal individuals), I would not have mentioned it because it is not apposite to the article.

However if you do believe the action of the individual represents the action of the group, then what of the Liberal Democrats’ larest donor Michael Brown? He is currently serving a prison sentence for his actions. And Jeffrey Archer? Labour’s ‘cash for honours’ scandal and postal vote fraud in the West Midlands? These are not relatively small incidents.

This article was a first person account of the mood of the UKIP conference. Do not interpret when there is nothing to interpret. The article voiced my approvals and my doubts; I wrote what I saw and heard – no more.

“XenoPHOBIA means irrational fear of foreigners. Not a lack of willingness to be involved with the EU.”

No it doesn’t.

Dictionary.com: “an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.”

An unreasonable hatred towards foreigners seems like an appropriate label for UKIP at times, but I agree is unrepresentative.

HOWEVER, the much more reliable OED.com suggests it means “a deep antipathy to foreigners”. Indeed, Macmillan was one of those to popularise the phrase, saying it was a “kind of isolationism or economic nationalism”.

Both of these definitions are fine for summarising UKIP.

And I know fully well about UKIP. I know what many members think and I know what most of the management thinks. Some members think that their disliking of the EU stems from the fact that it is an unreliable and corrupt system for Europe… but, frankly, most of the leaders are racist, corrupt and pretentious – thinking that Britain is best and THAT is why it shouldn’t be in Europe.

I have no qualms with any groups who wish the UK to leave the EU as a result of the latter’s inability to do anything. UKIP, however, is not one of those groups.

Jason Rose: No it doesn’t. Dictionary.com: “an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners”.

Forgive me Jason, you said ‘no it doesn’t’ and then went and gave almost the entirely same definition of what our great Jose also said. The fact you appear to use the internet for many of your sources here suggests you no doubt also, divulge in internet blogs written by Michael Moore types to gain your ideas.

However, aside from this pedantic discussion about the meaning of ‘xenophobic’, UKIP is simply not a party afraid of foreigners or one that hates them. Ironically, it’s probably less scared of the incumbent Czech and Swedish centre-right governments than it is of our very own sovereignty-diluting British government!

Jason, you claim to know what “most of the management think” and “most of UKIP members”. What utter balderdash. Have you spoken to 1000’s of UKIP supporters nationwide? Nigel Farage, Godfrey Bloom, Gerard Batten? I thought not. Once again, you spout off your phrophetic shpiel, claiming to me the fountain of all knowledge, but it’s so far from the truth and discredited, that it’s somewhat amusing.

UKIP isn’t xenophobic. You just want people to think it is because you happen not to know/like what you wrongly perceive it stands for.

It would be quite nice for those who are so quick to denounce UKIP as racist, single issue xenophobic and anti-European to actually do a little research about UKIP first before prattling off a load of nonsense about a political party they so obviously know so little about, but presume a lot.

Lets have a look at the facts. Sam Westrop, who is a bright young man, did not write anything which could be remotely considered as racist in his article about UKIP. If anyone dares to take a look at the UKIP web-site at http://www.ukip.org they will also find nothing there of a racist or offensive nature either.

What they will find is well written articles about the many problems created by our membership of the EU such as the closure of our post offices due to the EU’s postal directives, there are also various UKIP policies on several issues and opposition to the EU wide arrest warrant and UKIP’s defence of the young man who the Greeks want to arrest under the EU arrest warrant to face trial in Greece. He is facing arrest because he was in the vicinity when another young man was killed and the Greek authorities have presumed his guilt based on little evidence. This is a bit like the hysterical postings on this site presuming UKIP is racist and anti-foreigner. Gerrard Batten, the UKIP MEP, is doing his damnedest to prevent the arrest and extradition of this young man.

Regarding the other ridiculous allegations. Does the fact that a Conservative MEP is now facing charges of fraud for extracting money out of the EU mean that all Conservative’s are dishonest, does the fact that a Labour Councillor in Walsall has had to resign due to being investigated for owning some photos of children mean that all Labour members are perverts – of course not. How would all students like it if they were all accused of being layabouts because a minority use their student days to doss about instead of work – that would be grossly unfair.

I dislike the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties for their pro-EU acquiescence, but that does not mean I don’t think they should not exist. People look at their policies and weigh up the pros and cons of what they offer and vote on that basis. It is time people woke up and stopped all these silly little and nasty presumptions about UKIP and look at what it really stands for. They will discover a political party with a whole cross section of political views as its membership is made up of people who once supported the other three political parties. They will actually find a party that is pro-European which, unlike the EU, wants to see a Europe of self governing, independent nations with their own laws and currencies freely trading with each other and not meddling in each others affairs in the way the EU does.

They will also find a libertarian party which stands up for the freedom of the individual, is against ID cards and injustice. They will also find a political party which is against extremism and racism. Which is why those party members were dismissed from UKIP as they wanted a pact with the BNP – not because they had anything interesting to say or questions to ask.

I like the sound of UKIP. I think I will join it. So I thank Sam for his writing. I came to Britain because I liked Britain. Now I find I am ruled by the EU and I think it is crazy, to speak with complete candour.

Well done James for writing this ! I have know joined UKIP after attending a meeting, why dont some people here attend one before slagging the party off. Its probaly most likly they haver never been to a political party meeting before , well i have Ive done them all , And UKIP is the best.

For goodness sake, stop saying I haven’t done my research! I spent two years studying the BNP, UKIP, Veritas and the PNAC and my opinion of them DEVALUED during that time. I know what UKIP stand for and they stand for getting away of Europe BECAUSE IT’S EUROPE and not because the EU is broken. That’s the whole point.

Dan, I hate Michael Moore.

“shpiel” – LOL

There isn’t anything else to say – the only people posting in this particular thread are those that support UKIP. And, surprisingly, they’re the ones that always say that France is lazy, Germany are evil and that Palestinians should be shot (I think those were Dan’s words, anyway)… so hopefully the majority of the country aren’t stupid enough to fall for those malicious lies. The BNP aren’t significantly worse than UKIP.

“The only people posting in this particular thread are those that support UKIP”

I’m a liberal, I’ve never voted for UKIP and I support intergovernmental dialogue on as many platforms as necessary. I therefore support Britain’s membership of the EU (albeit with pressing need for reform.)

What I don’t support is people pointing the finger and making sweeping accusations that are fairly serious. ‘Racist’, or ‘Xenophobe’ etc… are pretty hard labels to shake off when accused of them, usually for only voicing a legitimate opinion. By all means pick holes in UKIP’s ideology or policy, but please don’t resort to intolerant personal jibes of ‘xenophobe’. It is a great shame that this is how too many on the British left today feel it is acceptable to behave towards political opponents.

The excessive use of -ism and -phobia to attack opponents of a certain position is destructive, vicious and stifles debate. A little respect and tolerance wouldn’t do too much harm.

Xenophobic is a perfectly viable statement. UKIP have not simply raised issues over the quality of the EU as an institution but have also made comments against Europe as a whole and against the nations within it. If you look at the UKIP website you’ll see policies that are anti-immigration as well. Granted that, again, this isn’t specifically racist or xenophobic but I would consider that anti-immigration as a blanket statement would be xenophobic.

I did, also, call many individuals within UKIP racist and I stand by that statement. I am NOT calling UKIP racist… and there isn’t anything legally wrong with being xenophobic in principle anyway, as far as I’m aware! I just have issues with it, personally, as having that as a central ideology in a political party seems wrong to me.

These comments are made with the suggestion that people all have the right to the same things which are liberal values as well as socialist values. I find the accusation that being anti-UKIP is “left-wing” either very stereotypical or outdated (i.e. it’s not a scalar line now.. and liberalism isn’t left-wing on that scale anyway). If the comment was made to suggest I was left-wing compared to UKIP then I completely support that comment and apologise for being overly-defensive.

I have already said that I support those who dislike the EU… and as the anti-EU MPs who came to do a talk last year said that they’d vote for me as PM (much to Dan Taylor’s surprise!) because of where I stood on EU, and the fact that I oppose much of its formation and opinion I hope that I am not seen as generalising. What I am saying, bluntly, is that I am against people who are xenophobic in and of itself or who are racist – i.e. those that are against Europe BECAUSE IT’S EUROPE and not because it is a dubiously admin-based talking shop that has no power etc. etc. Again, I reiterate that I, personally, am strongly confident that anyone looking at it objectively will see UKIP to be xenophobic and not racist but that those who look at its leadership will find subtle overtones of racism in their rhetoric.

I hope that people aren’t still confused about where I stand on this – and I hope that nobody is thinking I am maliciously trying to just generally slam down the right. Racism is wrong; if that is insulting the right then so be it. Other than that I am happy for people to slam the EU or say that UK independence is necessary as long as they don’t do it because of xenophobia but rather financial and social logic.

I’m not really sure what you are talking about. My concern that arose from the conference with UKIP’s policies was its ‘5 year freeze’ idea; to deal with the claims backlog. As Gawain Towler then answered, asylum seekers are not included under this freeze and will be able to seek a safe haven here in Britain.

As for UKIP hating Europe? – You mean UKIP under the leadership of Nigel Farage, you know, the fella with the German wife; the party that was the only one to condemn the racist immigration policies of the EU and British parties (policies that favour Europeans over non-Europeans); the party with numerous members and support from all over Europe; the party whose slogan is “Love Europe, hate the EU.”?

Although there are some minor problems with UKIP, problems that are not unique to the party (and for those reasons I am not a member), it will be interesting to see if you can even come close to identifying them